HSI ticks up after slow start
Finance | Tracy Hu, Samantha Wong and Reuters 2 Mar 2018
Hong Kong stocks inched up yesterday after opening lower and falling to their lowest point since February 14 in the morning session.
At the close, the benchmark Hang Seng Index was at 31,044.25, up 199.53 points or 0.65 percent.
Afternoon trading once saw the index surge 236 points to 31,081 after dropping to as low as 30,453 in the morning.
Unlike past years, the sharp correction in Hong Kong stocks has not drawn swarms of mainland bargain hunters, suggesting to some market watchers that a sharper slide may be coming.
US policy tightening would reduce liquidity in Hong Kong, whose currency is pegged to the dollar.
ANZ said factors shaping the Hong Kong dollar this year include the HIBOR-LIBOR spread, which widened after the US Federal Reserve ended the zero rate regime.
It is expected that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority will issue more and lower aggregate balance to influence the Hong Kong interbank offered rate.
Also, higher fluctuation of the yuan is expected this year and will depend heavily on the US dollar and the international market, said Raymond Yeung, ANZ's chief economist, Greater China.
Tencent Holdings (0700), which was most actively traded with a turnover of HK$11.93 billion, surged in late trading 3.42 percent to HK$447.
China Construction Bank closed 0.86 percent higher to HK$8.22. Ping An Insurance (2318), which once saw its two-week low in the morning, was up 1.5 percent to HK$84.70.
The best-performed blue chip yesterday was Sino Land (0083), jumping 4.05 percent.
CEFC Hong Kong Financial Investment (1520), which is related to CEFC, plunged nearly 30 percent after news that CEFC chairman Ye Jianming has been investigated.
SFC chairman Carlson Tong Ka-shing yesterday said that investors should understand the risks of investing in companies under the proposed dual-class structure.
He also said "The weighted voting right under the proposed revisions will be only entitled to individuals but the SFC is communicating with the local bourse to the feasibility of allowing companies to have the weighted voting right."
